Yes folks- Guantanamo is still open!

January 9th, 2013 8:02 PM

Guantanmo Is Still Open

By Candace Gorman

Hey folks -- Guantanamo is still open. My client and 166 other men are now entering their twelfth year of being held without charge or trial and there is no end in sight for their plight.

Is someone to blame for this?

Could it be Barack that is to blame? This New Year’s Eve seems to have been a big day for Barack Obama. As he signed the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act -- the NDAA -- keeping Guantanamo, for all intents and purposes, open for another year -- he issued a “signing statement” -- the way George Dubya Bush used to do quite often -- but in this signing statement, the president lamented about how his hands are tied in closing Guantanamo. But of course he went ahead and signed the NDAA anyway, tying his own hands (and allowing him to tie ours, or detain us, or if necessary in his opinion, presumably torture or kill us) and then he flew back to Hawaii to finish his vacation. So certainly Barack cannot be to blame, right? After all, his hands are tied!

READ THE REST ON MICHAEL MOORE'S WEBPAGE.

WE ARE SO UP THE CREEK.....

(that is US slang -write if you need an explanation....)

It seems that a (former?) FBI man has been held hostage by someone since 2007. His family did not go public in hopes that my government (his government) would help him. Alas that never happened and the family finally went public....and there is good reason why my government has not done a god damn thing- and it has nothing to do with the unfortunate Robert Levinson....it has to do with my government...
Seems the people holding poor Mr. Levinson have been using him to make a point about my country's illegal and unconscionable jail at Guantanamo and my government didn't want to deal with that embarrassment.....

"The photos, for example, portray Levinson in an orange jumpsuit like those worn by detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. The family received them via email in April 2011. In each photo, he held a sign bearing a different message.

"I am here in Guantanamo," one said. "Do you know where it is?"

Another read, "This is the result of 30 years serving for USA."

I am so very sorry for  Mr. Levinson. My country is completely dysfunctional and unwilling to admit its mistakes in operating this illegal prison and now we have others mimicking the prison.....what a shock!
I can only hope his captives will let him go- recognizing that so many of us here in the US have been trying to free the men at Guantanamo and holding this unfortunate man will not help those men.
Read more about this here.

The New American Justice

Another federal judge today confirmed that we (the attorney's for men held at Guantanamo) cannot see documentation that is classified at a higher classification level than the level awarded to us even if the information could be important for our clients freedom....sigh.

The doors of the courthouse keep shutting tighter and tighter....

http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2013/01/judge-government-can-rely-on-top-secret-information-in-gitmo-case.html

another sorry anniversary

Friday starts year twelve for the 166 men still held at Guantanamo. Find a protest near you and make yourself heard. If you are in the DC area head to the white house and join the hunger strikers-let that miserable president of ours know that some in the country still do care about the rule of law.

Sorry Men.....

But the president has decided again this year that it just isn't that important to deal with those of you being held without charge or trial at our gulag at Guantanamo Bay- -
although he does profess to be unhappy with his decision .... and he shows his unhappiness by cloning GW and giving a signing statement....
what a wimp...
Speaking of wimps....now that Jeh Johnson has left the post of general counsel for the military he is announcing that the war with al-Qaeda must end and the transfer restrictions on the men at Guantanamo in the NDAA must end... (note that you have to work through the discussion about how we treated prisoners in world war 11 to get to the gitmo part in the link- its about 5 minutes in...)
thanks for your bravery and courage mr. Johnson in holding off on discussing these important issues until after you left office.

In a similar...but different vein...UPDATED

The senate yesterday confirmed once again the laws allowing all of us to be spied on all the time without warrant...because the threat of terrorism is so great that we must give up our civil liberties...
Emptywheel has more here.

Gitmo History....

The history of the U. S. occupation of Guantanamo Bay is something that we tend to forget. To remind yourself as to why the whole base should be closed and given back to Cuba-after, of course, we release the remaining men- read this article from the guardian.

Happy Holidays.....sigh.

Gitmo in the news

I get these updates on news stories related to Guantanamo from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) which has been the umbrella organization for the probono effort to represent the men at Guantanamo. If you have any money left in your pocket this would be the one organization I would ask you to make a donation.

Press TV: Obama furthering Bush legacy of war on terror

Truthdig: The Final Battle

The Argus: Five years in Guantanamo Bay have led Brighton man to help those in need

Lawfare: What is in the New NDAA, Why it Warrants a Veto, and Why it Probably Won’t Get One

New York Times: Acting C.I.A. Chief Critical of Film ‘Zero Dark Thirty’

Washington Post (Editorial): Mr. Obama’s inertia on Guantanamo

Aljazeera: To torture, or not to torture?

Andy Worthington: Torture, Torture Everywhere

Counterpunch: Zero Dark Thirty: Torture, Take Two

Miami Herald: Report: No imminent parole, release for Canadian ‘child soldier

Baltimore Sun: The shameful treatment of foreign children in U.S. custody

The Hill: President Obama must veto defense bill to close Gitmo

Los Angeles Times (Editorial): Free the CIA torture report

Spiegel: It's Time for the Truth about US Torture Methods

BIG SIGH... (updated)

Now the powers to be are saying that Latif had acute pneumonia....emptywheel has more here.

Jeff Kaye has more here.

European Court rules for German Man tortured by US

May this please be the start of some kind of accountability.....

LATIF LETTER EXPLAINING HOW HE WAS BEING PUSHED TOWARD DEATH

I don't know if Latif's lawyers (and the rest of us) will ever learn the truth as to how he died but they sure as hell are putting up a good fight. The question remains, how could that man have taken his own life given the security at Guantanamo. And even if he did somehow manage to deceive the military and hoard some pills (extremely unlikely) the follow-up question is -if they in fact checked on him every two or three minutes why did not one of his guards notice him dying? all disturbing questions. Truth- out has more on this man's death.

and this addendum from one of Latif's attorneys, David Remes.

The government’s storyline—that Adnan smuggled medication into his cell and used it to kill himself—defies reason. There were too many hurdles in his path. Adnan was moved three times: from Camp 6 to the psych ward, then to the hospital, and finally to his cell in Camp 5, where he died. If ordinary procedures were followed, three guards escorted Adnan every step of the way. Adnan walked in handcuffs and leg chains attached to a waist chain. He was thoroughly searched at each transfer point. He was monitored in his cell by an overhead dome camera. Guards walked the corridor. His cell was frequently searched. As Jason and Jeff show, the SOPs for administering medication to detainees are designed to make hoarding virtually impossible. Given all these controls, it is hard to see how Adnan could have smuggled medication into his cell, much less kept and used it. The military’s theory does not add up and leaves the disturbing question whether the military placed extra medication in Adnan’s cell to facilitate his suicide.

FROM ROGER FITCH AND OUR FRIENDS DOWN UNDER AT JUSTINIAN

THE 7^th Circuit, sitting en banc, has overruled a unanimous three-judge appeals panel, and given former Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld immunity for torture that he personally ordered.

Jonathan Hafetz, the Times and Kevin Gosztola comment on the case.

READ THE REST HERE.

maybe there is something here...

I received an email today from my good friends at Reprieve and they noticed something that the rest of us did not pick up on:

http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/budget-appropriations/270973-senate-passes-key-defense-policy-bill-

“The Senate bill also included a new round of Iran sanctions, a “permanent ban” on transferring detainees from Guantánamo and prohibitions on the military detention of U.S. citizens…
…The White House threatened to veto the bill over the changes to the Pentagon’s proposed budget as well as the restriction on using funds to transfer Guantánamo detainees. The administration’s veto threat came before the bill’s Guantánamo transfer restrictions became even stronger after the Senate approved an amendment from Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.).”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/4/obama-veto-possible-over-guantanamo/#ixzz2EGhHsRU8
“The Senate bill also restricts Mr. Obama’s ability to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo Bay, whether to the United States or to foreign countries…

While the provision has been in previous years’ laws, Mr. Obama this year signaled he may be willing to veto the legislation over that restriction.”

Maybe it is just smoke and mirrors but if you feel so inclined it might be a good time to send an email to the Pres...and tell him to follow through on this long overdue threat....

you can send an email here....

THE PLOT THICKENS

hmmmm. Now they are claiming that Mr. Latif died of an overdose of psychiatric medicine....and in the fantasy world of the military that proves it was an apparent suicide. Problem is that is no way on earth that Mr. Latif could have hoarded the medicine- sounds to me like they overdosed the guy -either to subdue him or kill him. anyway you can read more here.
And emptywheel has more here.
And Jeff Kaye has more here.